Answered By: Allison Ball
Last Updated: Jan 22, 2024     Views: 443

Find sources for legal citation help on our Law subject guide under Legal Citations and Research Guides.

Legal citations generally follow the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (also known as the McGill Guide) rather than standard MLA or APA format.

What should my legal citations look like?

Unless directed otherwise by your instructor, we recommend following The McGill Guide, with in-text citations following the standard APA or MLA format replacing the footnotes required by The McGill Guide.

e.g. A case law citation on your References/Works Cited page might look something like this:

R. v. Jobidon (1987) 36 C.C.C. (3d) 340


And your in-text citation at the end of your sentence would look like this:

APA: (R. v. Jobidon, 1987)                 MLA: (R. v. Jobidon 6)


Always follow your instructor's guidelines first. You'll find a variety of ways to cite legal resources online, so it's best to know what your teacher is looking for before you start.

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